What is christian economics? | thearticle

Christianity has been invoked as a spiritual godfather by economists of every stripe. Jesus seemed to prove his socialist credentials when he promised that the poor shall inherit the earth.

Paul seemed to anticipate Ayn Rand when he wrote that he who does not work neither shall he eat. As long as economists reach for whatever evidence suits their case, the contention over

whether Christianity inclines to the economics of the left or of the right will never end. Perhaps, it is time to reset terms of the debate by looking at what Jesus and the Apostles said

about economics and how they put what they thought into practice. The Gospels made more than a few references to economics. The Greek term for economics, _oikonomia,_ originated in pagan

Greece, migrated into Hellenist Judaism, and in the New Testament was cited by Jesus, Paul, and Peter. Granted, the study of _oikonomia_ in ancient culture was in its infancy. And indeed,

even though Jesus quoted _oikonomia _twice, he did not dwell on it. But Peter — who succeeded Jesus as leader of Christians in Jerusalem — referred to _oikonomia theou _(theos = God),

spelled out how it worked, and put it into practice. For example, Christians ought to “use hospitality one to another without grudging”. The Acts of the Apostles related that under Peter’s

leadership Christians were offered free meals; deacons were appointed to help the poor; and wealthy members of the community funded these services through sales of property. Wherever

Christian communities emerged, with them they brought _oikonomia theou_, hosting meals and finding new ways to support the poor, for example, by ransoming prisoners kidnapped by pirates.

Roman authorities were wary of conspiracies and therefore suspicious of Christian charity, which threatened to drive a wedge between loyalty to Roman authority and to a creed. But _oikonomia

_by the end of the second century also caused a rift between Christians in the East and the West. In Egypt, Christians under the spell of otherworldly asceticism withdrew to monasteries

located as far as possible from bustling cities. In Rome, Christians who copied certain practices of their Jewish cousins unfolded new approaches to _oikonomia_. Second-century Rome had a

large Jewish constituency in the Trastevere district (the neighbourhood around St Peter’s basilica) that managed a number of synagogues (around a dozen), as well as cemeteries. The

cemeteries of Jews in Rome might have been one of two catalysts for transforming Christian economics. Today, tourists to Rome enjoy visiting the catacombs, a sprawl of underground early

Christian burial sites on the outskirts of Rome. The first catacombs in fact were Jewish. Christians would have insisted on independent oversight of cemeteries given Christian and Jewish

notions of the afterlife were irreconcilable. A second catalyst might have been Roman tax laws. By the end of the second century, Romans granted Christians permission to raise subscriptions

for laying out catacombs. How Christians came by this concession is a mystery. A colourful figure, Callixtus, who seems to have been a financial broker before he rose to administer the

catacombs, seems to have pulled strings at the imperial court where an equally intriguing figure, Marcia, a courtesan favoured by the emperor’s attention, smoothed the approval process.

Ecclesial leaders recognised that the subscriptions put into their hands transformed the church. So important was Callixtus to ecclesial management that later he succeeded to the papacy,

setting a pattern of promotion that became a template for preferment. The papacy went to the candidate who had had his hand on the purse strings of the Christian community. _Oikonomia_ in

Christianity entered a new phase once it encompassed managing revenues and expenses. While Egyptian Christianity was turning its back on the world, meanwhile Roman Christianity was

developing skills in managing properties and budgeting for them. There were repercussions on paganism and on monasticism. In the fourth century, Christianity had begun crowding out paganism.

A Roman emperor who wanted to turn the clock back and restore paganism, Julian the Apostate (331-363), called on pagan priests to copy Christian charity to stem the flow of conversions.

Roman _oikonomia _also began to permeate Christianity in the West. In the sixth century, an Italian monk, Benedict of Nursia (480-547), founded an order based on the motto _Ora et labora_:_

_monks were to pray but also to work. Work was a form of piety. From then on, Christianity phased out the introspective Eastern model of monks living as hermits, and the Western model of

monks who practised enterprise shaped the rise of the West. From its inception, Christianity contained an economic dimension. That Jesus did not elaborate at length the practical

applications of _oikonomia _is not surprising. His following was small, his ministry short. And although Paul cited _oikonomia theou_ and gave advice to many Christian communities, he was

not responsible for implementing policies. Peter, however, stated what he thought _oikonomia theou_ prescribed, and the Acts of the Apostles related how he put this blueprint into practice.

_Oikonomia _evolved when Christians picked up cues from their Jewish cousins in Rome and when the church began to draw on a steady income and act like a corporate entity. _Oikonomia _adapted

to impulses from fiscal, social, and cultural catalysts. This process unfolded over several centuries. But this learning process originated in _oikonomia_ in the Gospels. For a full version

of this argumentation see Benedikt Koehler, _Christian economics at the origin_, Economic Affairs, February 2020.